Gaming laptop help

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shinyedges

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Hey guys,

I'm looking into a gaming laptop for work. I use a program called mastercam and it does rendering amongst other things that can be demanding on a computer. So I've been reading up on all the major brands and hot damn there is a huge number of them on the market.

I'm looking at:

asus rog gl553ve

Msi gp62vr 4k-463

And a few others.


How do these brands compare as far as quality, durability, battery life? Any suggestions?

I'd like an i7 7700hq, gtx 1060 gpu, 256 ssd, 1tb of hdd, aluminum body if possible.
 
Hey guys,

I'm looking into a gaming laptop for work. I use a program called mastercam and it does rendering amongst other things that can be demanding on a computer. So I've been reading up on all the major brands and hot damn there is a huge number of them on the market.

I'm looking at:

asus rog gl553ve

Msi gp62vr 4k-463

And a few others.


How do these brands compare as far as quality, durability, battery life? Any suggestions?

I'd like an i7 7700hq, gtx 1060 gpu, 256 ssd, 1tb of hdd, aluminum body if possible.

I have limited experience, but when I was doing my research on this topic myself, consensus seemed to be that you can save a few bucks in the sub-$1500 range and get the budget Asus with high-end graphics card and processor, but the compromises are in build quality, case material, etc., or you can get an MSI with a metal case and better build quality but with slightly lower-grade parts.

Once you go over $1500 then it evens out, and you get top-notch parts from MSI and better build quality and metal cases from ASUS.

I ended up with an MSI with an i7-6700, GTX 1060 w/ 6 GB VRAM, 32 GB DDR4 RAM, 500 GB SSD, and 1 TB HDD for about $1550.

I'd also recommend a cheap cooling fan tray. Heat kills, and with the amount of wattage drawn by the Nvidia 10XX cards in the small space of even a large laptop, cooling and ventilation are often a challenge.
 
From what I've gathered you are exactly right. I was trying to stay around 1250.00 but the more I look for what I want at that price point the more I realize all the major brands have trade offs. I may have to bump up to 1500.00 to get what I want.

How's the msi holding up? I've been looking at them pretty hard. Oh and how's your battery life?

Thanks for the info.
I have limited experience, but when I was doing my research on this topic myself, consensus seemed to be that you can save a few bucks in the sub-$1500 range and get the budget Asus with high-end graphics card and processor, but the compromises are in build quality, case material, etc., or you can get an MSI with a metal case and better build quality but with slightly lower-grade parts.

Once you go over $1500 then it evens out, and you get top-notch parts from MSI and better build quality and metal cases from ASUS.

I ended up with an MSI with an i7-6700, GTX 1060 w/ 6 GB VRAM, 32 GB DDR4 RAM, 500 GB SSD, and 1 TB HDD for about $1550.

I'd also recommend a cheap cooling fan tray. Heat kills, and with the amount of wattage drawn by the Nvidia 10XX cards in the small space of even a large laptop, cooling and ventilation are often a challenge.
 
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From what I've gathered you are exactly right. I was trying to stay around 1250.00 but the more I look for what I want at that price point the more I realize all the major brands have trade offs. I may have to bump up to 1500.00 to get what I want.

How's the msi holding up? I've been looking at them pretty hard. Oh and how's your battery life?

Thanks for the info.

I've only had it for two months, so I can't really say how it holds up. Also can't tell you much about the battery life, truth be told, because I use my computer mostly as an easily movable desktop rather than as an actual laptop. I always keep it plugged in when I am playing games or doing intensive work of some sort, but for Netflix and web browsing, battery life is about five-six hours I think.

I will say they are large and heavy. Also the power supply is large and heavy. So if you were looking for something you can just throw into your backpack, this is probably not the droid you're looking for.

Overall I am a fan, though. Although there are two weirdly glitchy things- one, the audio drivers often have to be tweaked when you get them. I had to download older drivers to get my sound to work. Same with video drivers. The first NVIDIA update I got back in February did some weird thing where the computer thought that the backlight setting at 40% was actually 100%. So your screen was never brighter than 40%. It was a backlight issue, not a screen brightness setting issue.

Both of those things are now fixed in my latest patches, so if you get one and you have those issues, just update all your drivers and they should resolve.
 
You've helped me a bunch. Thank you.

I wonder if a large capacity battery bank would do the trick for day trips so I don't have to lug the cord around as well.

Tough decision.
I've only had it for two months, so I can't really say how it holds up. Also can't tell you much about the battery life, truth be told, because I use my computer mostly as an easily movable desktop rather than as an actual laptop. I always keep it plugged in when I am playing games or doing intensive work of some sort, but for Netflix and web browsing, battery life is about five-six hours I think.

I will say they are large and heavy. Also the power supply is large and heavy. So if you were looking for something you can just throw into your backpack, this is probably not the droid you're looking for.

Overall I am a fan, though. Although there are two weirdly glitchy things- one, the audio drivers often have to be tweaked when you get them. I had to download older drivers to get my sound to work. Same with video drivers. The first NVIDIA update I got back in February did some weird thing where the computer thought that the backlight setting at 40% was actually 100%. So your screen was never brighter than 40%. It was a backlight issue, not a screen brightness setting issue.

Both of those things are now fixed in my latest patches, so if you get one and you have those issues, just update all your drivers and they should resolve.
 
I don't know how much real world difference there actually is, but there is a difference between gaming and workstation cards. Check to see what graphics cards Mastercam recommends before buying a non optimal machine.

My boss just ordered a new Dell Precision 7000 series, very nicely spec'ed out for $2800. i7, 32GB ram, 1TB SSD, etc.

Battery life? Hahaha. I wouldn't expect anything out of a serious work machine. Maybe an hour tops.
 
Mastercam was ran on a computer at work for years that had 6gb of ram :eek:

It does most things except when surfacing and rendering the load is so much it literally shut down the program and sometimes the computer.

I don't remember what either the old or new gpu was or is. I think the gpu is the Achilles heel of my current work desktop.

I checked the specs and it will be ok with a gaming laptop, I'll do most of my mastercam programming at home on a desktop.

The upgraded computer they got at work has an xeon and 32gb of ram and actually still studders and struggles with complex solid rendering. Boy an hour battery life would really suck :D
I don't know how much real world difference there actually is, but there is a difference between gaming and workstation cards. Check to see what graphics cards Mastercam recommends before buying a non optimal machine.

My boss just ordered a new Dell Precision 7000 series, very nicely spec'ed out for $2800. i7, 32GB ram, 1TB SSD, etc.

Battery life? Hahaha. I wouldn't expect anything out of a serious work machine. Maybe an hour tops.
 
Mastercam was ran on a computer at work for years that had 6gb of ram :eek:

It does most things except when surfacing and rendering the load is so much it literally shut down the program and sometimes the computer.

I don't remember what either the old or new gpu was or is. I think the gpu is the Achilles heel of my current work desktop.

I checked the specs and it will be ok with a gaming laptop, I'll do most of my mastercam programming at home on a desktop.

The upgraded computer they got at work has an xeon and 32gb of ram and actually still studders and struggles with complex solid rendering. Boy an hour battery life would really suck :D

Really nothing to be done about it, though. Laptops are a compromise, you won't find anything with the horsepower you want that doesn't suck the battery dry in seconds. The high-end MSI computers are great mobile desktop replacements, though.
 
I wonder if the laptops with lithium polymer do any better. I feel like I'm definitely leaning towards the msi.
Really nothing to be done about it, though. Laptops are a compromise, you won't find anything with the horsepower you want that doesn't suck the battery dry in seconds. The high-end MSI computers are great mobile desktop replacements, though.
 
MSI makes a good machine, and the Asus ROG series are quite dependable.
I've had a ROG G74SX since 2012 and the original battery still takes a charge and will run for about 1hr 45min. Performance is still good enough for a working machine, but not newest gaming.

The ROG you're looking at has 4Gb DDR5 vs 3Gb on the MSI and for graphic intensive apps that's what you want. Go with 16Gb of RAM and buy 16 more from Crucial when you can. I'd also go with the biggest SSD you can afford and skip the second HDD you can add one later cheaper.

If you go with the MSI I'd be interested to hear what you think. Good luck!
 
I don't know how much real world difference there actually is, but there is a difference between gaming and workstation cards. Check to see what graphics cards Mastercam recommends before buying a non optimal machine.

My boss just ordered a new Dell Precision 7000 series, very nicely spec'ed out for $2800. i7, 32GB ram, 1TB SSD, etc.

Battery life? Hahaha. I wouldn't expect anything out of a serious work machine. Maybe an hour tops.

[H] by chance?


I have nothing to add other than I run Mastercam x9 pretty much full time.
Never have ran it on a laptop. Always desktop.
Current system is a Xeon@ 2.4GHz, 64Gb ram and Nvidia Quadro K4000
It works pretty well for surfacing..which 50% of my programming is..I would think if you didn't do a whole lot of surfacing and typical 2d toolpaths that a laptop with decent specs would be alright.
 
After I burned up an $1,800 Gaming Laptop I decided Gaming Laptop wasn't a thing and stuck to desktops after that. Most don't have adequate cooling for processors and game chips to use for heavy gaming.
 
After I burned up an $1,800 Gaming Laptop I decided Gaming Laptop wasn't a thing and stuck to desktops after that. Most don't have adequate cooling for processors and game chips to use for heavy gaming.

I have to agree with this. I mainly game on my desktop but I've felt in the past that I needed a gaming laptop for a secondary, especially something mobile. But after years of this, I've decided that a gaming laptop is just a pain to lug around. Now i prefer something small as a secondary screen and something I can easily take around. Heavy computing and gaming, I reserve for my desktop.
 
In my opinion battery life on these sort of machines are really just a built in UPS, which can be really handy, and for the odd presentation they do well. My MSI is starting to show its age, but its held up really well for about 7 years, the battery held up for about 5, now its in the "replace" mode, but it will still go for about 20-30 minutes. Cooling and frequent maintenance are key as well, mine is a bit of a pain to open, but I've cracked open far worse.
 
I ended up getting an alienware 15r3 with 7700hq,1060gtx,256 pcie ssd, 1 TB HDD, 16gb ram, 99wh battery and a few other things.

Biggest thing was the alienware 99wh battery is the largest capacity available.

MSI makes a good machine, and the Asus ROG series are quite dependable.
I've had a ROG G74SX since 2012 and the original battery still takes a charge and will run for about 1hr 45min. Performance is still good enough for a working machine, but not newest gaming.

The ROG you're looking at has 4Gb DDR5 vs 3Gb on the MSI and for graphic intensive apps that's what you want. Go with 16Gb of RAM and buy 16 more from Crucial when you can. I'd also go with the biggest SSD you can afford and skip the second HDD you can add one later cheaper.

If you go with the MSI I'd be interested to hear what you think. Good luck!

[H] by chance?


I have nothing to add other than I run Mastercam x9 pretty much full time.
Never have ran it on a laptop. Always desktop.
Current system is a Xeon@ 2.4GHz, 64Gb ram and Nvidia Quadro K4000
It works pretty well for surfacing..which 50% of my programming is..I would think if you didn't do a whole lot of surfacing and typical 2d toolpaths that a laptop with decent specs would be alright.
I use x9 as well as 2017. I prefer x9 though. I'm a full time programmer but I also set up and run machines as well. I agree for 2d tool paths any decent computer would be ok, I find the real problem is dealing with complex solids and verifying as well as regenerating toolpaths. Even my current work computer has a significant delay from the time I regenerate a dirty toolpath until it gets a green check. Sometimes a few minutes. Then while verifying it is glitchy, the computer can't move the mouse pointer and verify at the same time. Literally if I move the mouse, the toolpath stops moving until the mouse is still.

On simpler things I can move the part around and adjust my view while verifying without freezing anything up.



Good to hear from others in the industry :thumbup: I just came back from an iscar seminar in Texas. Pretty cool facility they have.
 
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Oh and I went with the 2 year warranty that covers everything including accidental damage. A bit more $ but hey, accidents do happen.
 
After I burned up an $1,800 Gaming Laptop I decided Gaming Laptop wasn't a thing and stuck to desktops after that. Most don't have adequate cooling for processors and game chips to use for heavy gaming.

Well, heat kills... My goal with my MSI is to never even have the computer fans kick in at all. I use cheapo extension USB-powered cooling trays. Easier to replace a $20 external fan unit every year or two IMHO.
 
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